Sunset over the sea at Alghero, in Sardinia

Bottarga · Fiore, Milan

Bottarga, Sardinia’s gold

The sea at Alghero at sunset (a landscape, not a Fiore dish). Photo Alexkom000, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bottarga is one of the signatures of Sardinian cooking: grey mullet roe, salted, pressed and dried. With us it goes on spaghettoni with clams and broccoli, on culurgiones, on sliced pecorino and on carasau bread with raw fish.

Below are the dishes with bottarga and a few facts about grey mullet, each with its source.

A whole grey mullet bottarga on a bed of grated bottarga

At Fiore

What you will find with us

On the menu

Pecorino sardo a fettine con bottarga e maggioranaSliced Sardinian pecorino with bottarga and marjoram
Culurgiones con pomodorini e pecorino o alla bottargaCulurgiones with cherry tomatoes and pecorino, or with bottarga
Spaghettoni con vongole, broccoli e bottarga di muggineSpaghettoni with clams, broccoli and grey mullet bottarga

From the kitchen, according to the market

Carasau (o guttiau) con crudo e bottargaCarasau (or guttiau) bread with raw fish and bottarga

Prices are on the menu at the restaurant.

Photos

A closer look

How we use it in the dishes

On pasta: spaghettoni with clams, broccoli and grey mullet bottarga, and culurgiones, which come with tomato and pecorino or with bottarga. As a starter: sliced Sardinian pecorino with bottarga and marjoram, and carasau bread with raw fish and bottarga. See also raw seafood and carasau and guttiau bread.

What it is, in a few words

The roe of the grey mullet, a lagoon fish, is salted and pressed, then left to dry. Below are the curiosities about bottarga and mullet, each with its source.

Did you know

Stories and facts, with the source

Bottarga di muggine

In Sardinian: bottariga; baffe (le ovaie)

A product made by salting the ovaries of mullet; the name comes from the Arabic for salted or smoked fish.

Only 0.3% of Sardinian bottarga comes from mullet of the Cabras lagoon. Source: fondazioneslowfood.com
The name comes from the Arabic butarih: salted or smoked fish. Source: files.regione.sardegna.it
Only one species of mullet, Mugil cephalus, has ovaries large enough (200-500 g) and with a membrane suited to salting. Source: files.regione.sardegna.it
The bottarga of the Cabras Presidium can be recognised by a folded flap of silvery skin. Source: fondazioneslowfood.com

Muggine e merca

In Sardinian: lissa, muzaldu (muggine); mughedhu (il muggine affumicato, nell'Oristanese); sa merca; sa ziba (l'erba palustre)

Mullet, and merca, a traditional product kept wrapped in marsh grass that protects it from insects.

Merca is kept wrapped in a marsh grass, sa ziba: it serves as packaging and protects it from insects. Source: files.regione.sardegna.it
In the Oristano area, smoked mullet has a name of its own: mughedhu. Source: ditzionariu.nor-web.eu
At the Cabras lagoon, 128 fishermen work, grouped in 10 cooperatives. Source: fondazioneslowfood.com

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us.

What is bottarga?

It is grey mullet roe, salted, pressed and dried. The name comes from the Arabic butarih, meaning salted or smoked fish.

Does bottarga have a PDO label?

No: bottarga has no PDO. The one with the Slow Food Presidium mark is the grey mullet bottarga of Cabras, and only 0.3% of Sardinian bottarga comes from there.

Which dishes have bottarga?

Spaghettoni with clams and broccoli, culurgiones with bottarga, sliced Sardinian pecorino and carasau bread with raw fish and bottarga. To know what is on today, message us on WhatsApp.

Where can I see the prices?

Prices are not on the website: you will find them on the menu at the restaurant.

How do I book?

On WhatsApp at +39 347 698 8655 (you can write in English) or by phone on +39 02 4895 5382. We are at Via Savona 59, in Milan’s Tortona district.

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